A short tribute to Jim Shooter and we celebrate a return of comedy in these books. We look at Legion of Super-Heroes #41 & 42

Legion of Super-Heroes #41 

We've reached Enemy Rising Part 2: Busted! by writer Jim Shooter, guest penciller Aaron Lopresti, and inker Matt Ryan. Francis Manapul as the regular artist and Lopresti now filling in. Why was this book not flying off the shelves? Can you believe DC has had so much great talent drawing the Legion and it never resulted in any sales?

To recap last issue, Princess Projectra's life is falling apart. She's lost everything - her title, her family, her home world, her home, and her money and even though she no longer has any of the previous benefits she enjoyed, she still has all the legal responsibilities. She previously kinda ignored a looting, stealing a bracelet for herself, and now she's apparently lost control and killed someone.

This issue begins with Timber Wolf, who's also completely out of control and ready to kill at a moment's notice, stopping her from attacking another being trying to get an autograph. The dead alien is lying behind her.

Projectra turns, hits Timber Wolf so hard he goes flying (so her powers are completely different... again...) and then announces she's going to beat the other alien. Saturn Girl shows up to calm everything down - I'm just going to assume she's mind-controlling them. We learn that the alien isn't dead, but since he's from the planet Doopa, he's very sturdy. The three Legionnaires pose for a vid-op and Projectra leaves immediately. Now that's a bait and switch.

Saturn Girl and Timber Wolf speak and he was hoping she'd mind wipe the crowd so no one would remember what happened. Imra didn't (so maybe she didn't mind control Jeckie) and tells Brin to go and get his shoulder checked out. Wait, so Projectra hit Brin hard enough to injure him? Wow...

We head to Legion HQ where there is more arguing about money and the lack thereof. Brainiac 5 wants to get in on the alien dissection and Lightning Lad is angry they had to pay to disinfect everything after last issue's collection of smelly pests.

An S.P. officer shows up (the same one on the cover) and threatens to arrest everyone. Is it too much to hope this is Shvaughn Erin? Brainy grabs the officer's nose and we immediately realize it's Chameleon, who went uncover to figure out where the dissection is happening. We learn it's being done under special security measures and they wonder who else is looking into this. Bait and switch number two.

We move away for subplot number one and see M'rissey selling the plans for something to the CEO of a huge company. What's he selling? No idea... but the CEO wants to know if the Legion knows what he's doing. Ooooh... a mystery...

Back to the dissection - Invisible Kid has snuck in and Saturn Girl is transmitting what he's seeing into a Vid-Screen for recording. She also links Brainy's mind with Lyle's.

M'rissey sneaks into the HQ and returns the Flight Ring he "borrowed" from a sleeping Star Boy.

Light Lass has arrived and is not happy the Legion is spying on the S.P.s. She and Garth argue for a bit before she relents and sees why they're doing this.

Brainy tells Invisible Kid to look around and they see that the Legion applicants we saw a few issues ago are overseeing the whole procedure. One of the applicants, named Spy, senses a foreign presence and heads down to the operating floor to see what's going on.

Ayla wants them to abort immediately but Brainy realizes that the alien isn't actually dead... that's why it didn't self-destruct before. And the S.P. scientists are about to activate it again. Spy senses something floating over the table just as the alien comes back to life, killing everything it can.

Invisible Kid grabs a very large blade and slices the alien in half, blood spattering everywhere. And then escapes. Or tries to. Giselle, who's now called Gazelle, kicks him and knocks him out. It looks like the U.P. is putting together a new version of the Legion. No idea why someone who hates the U.P. would join them instead of the Legion, but when has this book ever made logical sense?

The U.P. arrests him, of course, and charges Lyle with everything they can. The alien disappears in an orange and yellow flash. Ultra Boy lets them know that there's an alien destroyer attack coming to Rimbor. The Legion's been grounded after what Lyle did, so they can't go and help Rimbor at all.

Later, in the Entertainment District, Saturn Girl and her mother meet at the same restaurant but can't actually sit together because it's bad for both of them. But they can sit in the same restaurant, just on different floors, and no one thinks that maybe telepaths could "talk" to each other over distance. Which they do.

Which makes me wonder why they even need to be in the same place? How far away can they "talk" to each other? We learn that there's a new regime in place in the U.P. and that's why they're so anti-Legion. Wow, if only they could've explained that 3 or 4 issues ago to make some of these things made sense...

Back at the HQ, Lightning Lad and Brainy take a look over the footage of the autopsy and Brainy's confused by what he's seeing. The aliens' decision making doesn't make a ton of sense and he's not sure if they were changing tactics or their technology is getting better and worse at the same time.

Then Cham picks up a bird... romantically.

This issue wraps up with a nice moment between Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl. They talk about their day and complain about all the chaos going on. Just as they're about to get romantic, Saturn Girl says:

"Let's just forget everything for a while, lover... please? Take me... own me... do something... shocking..."

The U.P. calls and the Legion has permission to go to Rimbor. Garth sends Imra because they need someone with experience fighting these aliens and Ultra Boy is their first volunteer to join the team. 

I gotta be honest... not sure if I was Lightning Lad I would've cared about this mission at this point.

This story, most definitely to be continued.

I just want to say that this is the first issue with some actual comedy I've seen from the Legion in a while. From Cham goofing off in the background, to Light Lass making a rude Ultra Boy weightless, to Cham and the bird, there were some great light-hearted (no pun intended) moments in an otherwise pretty heavy issue. I honestly can't remember the last time this was the case.

I'm also assuming that the name of the new "Legion" team of rejected applicants is a joke too. They're the United Planets Young Heroes, or UPYH.

We also get, instead of a letters' page, a three-page text piece (with really mediocre artwork) explaining the Secret History of the Legion Flight Ring. I have no idea why the Flight Ring would be so important now... hehe... 

 

Legion of Super-Heroes #42

We begin this issue in Colossal Boy's dorm room, where I'm guessing he's slightly obsessed with someone named "Suzy Porter" and that they've completely forgotten about his powers. In the bio-text, they write that his power is to "grow to giant size." Which is, of course, not true. He's naturally a giant and shrinks to the size of the other Legionnaires.

He's woken up by Lightning Lad and discovers that his uniform is ripped. So we get a new uniform for Colossal Boy. Is it bad that I have no idea how this is different from his old one? And I say that after looking at the cover to issue #37. He doesn't seem to notice a difference either, so I don't feel too bad.

He's actually not the only Legionnaire with a new costume and Ultra Boy continues to be a misogynist - Saturn Girl stops him before he tries to complement her by saying she looks "more like a girl" or "less dumpy." Knowing how this story is going to develop just makes scenes like this even worse.

Also, how does that make sense? Every character in this book wears a skin-tight costume. What's different about this one? Or is she just his latest target? 

The strike team of Saturn Girl, Ultra Boy, Colossal Boy, Star Boy, Atom Girl, and Chameleon heads through the transmatter gate to save Rimbor from the latest alien attack. Brainiac 5 lets them know that the invasion fleet has already destroyed the Science Police and Jo's former gang. Imra takes over, giving orders based on Napoleon's tactics... no idea how someone from Titan learns about Napoleon since Atom Girl has no idea who he was, but I guess since they're closer to Earth they learn ancient Earth history.

To no shock, Ultra Boy ignores Imra's instructions and tries to fight all the aliens himself. He gets blasted and she's got to save him. As the rest of the team discover that the aliens are constantly learning and adapting to them, Saturn Girl gets Jo to wake up. He thinks she's sexy and kisses her. For some reason that I can't fathom, she's not offended by this - and does let us know that he's a great kisser.

Why? Why add this? Do we really need a romantic triangle between Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, and Ultra Boy? Do we need to show how insecure and weak Imra is to make this work? 

Back on Earth, Lyle Norg finds out that he's being released from jail and into his father's custody before trial. He bonds with his dad, who's now more supportive of the Legion and we get another really awkward moment of Lyle rambling about Giselle. Okay, he's got a crush on her... no idea why, but that's love, right? Or stalking... But his father lets him leave and head back to Legion HQ, so it's all good, right? Or just another moment of Shooter ignoring everything that had been written before.

Back to the battle on Rimbor, the team finally starts figuring out that changing their tactics will work. Saturn Girl was smart enough to bring a gun that changes the energy spectra every time she fires (and why didn't she share that with the other Legionnaires?). Star Boy makes the air over the aliens super heavy, essentially creating air hammers that kill them.

Back to the HQ - Brainy has discovered that the new costumes were ordered from Carmine's Custom Actionwear (nice Infantino reference) and are great body armor. And also bought on sale. He lets Lightning Lad know what he's learned about the aliens - they're killing machines that could be used far more effectively than they are.

As the two discuss why the U.P. hate them and how Saturn Girl has learned just how deeply they want the Legion gone, the President's Deputy Chief of Staff Popoff arrives, asking for a favor. He wants them to send some help to rescue three members of UPYH on Velmar V. Lightning Lad agrees and, after Popoff leaves, Brainy comments that he's one who hates the Legion most.

To no shock, once the Legionnaires are gone, Popoff is ready with the Science Police to serve warrants and tear apart Legion HQ.

On Rimbor, they've worked together and beaten the alien invasion. Which, of course, means that the Rimborian government is ready to arrest Ultra Boy.

To be continued... 

 

I've gotta give thumbs up to both these issues with one huge caveat. I liked the artwork, I was entertained by the story, and the big action scenes were tremendous.

The caveat? Why would Saturn Girl want anything to do with Ultra Boy? Now that's character assassination of the highest order. The only way this makes sense is if you ignore every previous amount of characterization and focus solely on Imra being a very young teenage girl who loves any sort of male attention.

It would take five minutes to make this make the slightest amount of sense. For example, and this is completely off the top of my head, after it's revealed that Winath is a very sexually liberated place (as shown by Light Lass' behavior), Saturn Girl starts to worry that she's not "experienced" enough for Lightning Lad and starts questioning what he sees in her, especially now that he's leader and they're spending less and less time together. Then have Ultra Boy use his "charms" and win her over with lots of attention. Then it makes sense... kinda...

Also, is it so hard to write a jerk character but also give them some depth so you understand why Imra would want to spend time with him? This is a book about heroes, right? Why have such an unlikable and unrepentant weasel destroy every relationship in his path and treat women like conquests break up the most important relationship in the Legion? Jo's already too far gone for this book. But now you're dragging Imra down to his level, which is a horrible move.

For those who don't want their comics to feel like a soap opera, we're definitely reading the wrong book. 

 

No Legionnaire in the spotlight this week because we're going to put a creator in the spotlight... Jim Shooter!  

 

In episode 9 of the Long Live the Legion podcast, we spent a lot of time talking about Jim Shooter and his immeasurable influence on the Legion of Super-Heroes.

We're going to spend an entire episode talking about Shooter very, very soon, so keep your eyes open for that.

When I found out on June 30th that he had passed away at the age of 73, I was stunned and took a little bit of time to process the news. Tons of people wrote obituaries, talking about the good and bad sides of Shooter, while I thought about when I became aware of who he was and what he was doing.

Any comic fan in the early 1980's saw Shooter's name in the credits of every single Marvel comic. As the Editor-in-Chief, I title I only vaguely understood as a child, his influence was felt throughout the line. If you read the Bullpen Bulletins, you saw his name again and again and started to "feel" like you knew who he was.

It was only later that I learned what he actually did, whose careers he developed, and which creators hated him. He was a controversial figure who seemed to generate both incredible loyalty and, at the same time, vitriol.

As a Legion fan, I remember reading those early 70's issues, after he returned to the book, and was stunned that the man who was running Marvel has also written my favorite comic book. The stories ran the gamut of quality - some amazing and some absolute garbage - but you could feel just how much he loved the characters. I remember listening to an interview with Jack C. Harris, former Legion editor, and he explained how it was Shooter's love for the characters that got him to understand why they were so important to DC Comics.

By the time I got to read his Silver Age books, I was stunned. I couldn't believe a teenager wrote these. I couldn't believe how much better they were than almost anything else DC was publishing. And I couldn't believe how influential they were on every future Legion story. 

I think it's safe to say that we don't have a Legion without Jim Shooter. His love for the title set the tone for every Legion book that followed. And without him, we don't have the following characters:

• Chemical King
• Controllers
• Dark Circle
• Dominators
• Emerald Empress
• Esper Lass
• Fatal Five
• Ferro Lad
• Karate Kid
• Laurel Kent
• Mano 
• Mordru
• Nemesis Kid
• Persuader
• Princess Projectra
• Shadow Lass
• Tharok
• Universo
• Validus
• Wanderers 

This is just the list from Wikipedia and I know it's missing a lot. But wow...

 

So take a sip of your beverage of choice and say thanks for giving us characters and stories to love reading again and again.